(Bloomberg)—Longpoint Realty Partners, a real estate private equity firm, has raised $669 million to invest in warehouses close to U.S. urban centers, part of an effort to get goods to consumers faster.
It was the second fund for Boston-based Longpoint and beat the firm’s initial target of $450 million.
Locating warehouses near population centers is more important than ever, after the pandemic accelerated the shift from brick-and-mortar stores to online shopping, according to Dwight Angelini, managing and founding partner at Longpoint. The surge in online orders has pushed warehouses to capacity and exposed weaknesses in the global supply chain that have delayed deliveries.
“Consumer expectations are very difficult to meet,” said Angelini, whose company develops new industrial properties and restores old ones. “They want it fast, they want it cheap and they want quality.”
There isn’t enough warehouse space to meet the needs of companies such as Walmart Inc. and Amazon.com Inc. and third-party logistics providers, according to Angelini. With properties in cities such as Miami, Boston and Austin, Texas, Longpoint is “creating supply-ready warehouses that are needed in these locations for stuff to move through them.”
The new fund has deployed about $327 million so far across 26 separate transactions.
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